Posted by Ted Serbinski

Managing Director of the Techstars Mobility Accelerator. Ted Serbinski is an entrepreneur and early stage investor operating at the intersection of Detroit's automotive dominance and its entrepreneurial resurgence.

Just four years ago, Detroit came out of bankruptcy. We remember that day vividly because it was the same day we announced the first Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator program in Detroit: Techstars Mobility. We saw potential in Detroit, that it could take deep industry knowledge and become a hotbed of innovation for both corporations and startups.

Over the past four years, we’ve partnered with local corporations to gain their expertise and help them grow their innovation muscles. We’ve activated the Detroit startup ecosystem through the Techstars mentor network, facilitating over 10,000 meetings between startups and successful entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and government organizations. We’ve brought 44 startups to Detroit from eight different countries, spanning industries including automotive, transportation, city infrastructure, travel, manufacturing, and materials, who have raised over $80 million and are valued at over $215 million. The Demo Days for these accelerator classes have become huge events for the community, attracting over a thousand attendees each year. Techstars Startup Week Detroit attracts thousands more to its annual celebration of entrepreneurship. And, just last October, Detroit joined in the 2nd annual national Techstars Startup Weekend Latinx in Tech.

Our next step: Techstars is investing even more in Detroit, and transforming Techstars Mobility to Techstars Detroit.

We started with mobility—the industry that everyone knew Detroit could do and that Detroit itself knew it could do. That was four years ago: today, Detroit does that and so much more. “The word Mobility was becoming too limiting,” says Ted Serbinski, Managing Director of Techstars Detroit (and MD of Techstars Mobility for all four years). “We knew we needed to reach a broader audience of entrepreneurs who may not label themselves as mobility but are great candidates for the program.” Techstars Detroit is still looking for startups who identify as mobility innovations, but is also looking for startups that associate with industries such as manufacturing, IoT, and more. They’ll benefit enormously from working with Techstars corporate partners for the 2019 program: Ford, Honda, AAA, USAA, Nationwide, PlanetM, and, new for 2019, Lear. These partners know just how crucial it is to partner with startups and keep innovation top of mind. Detroit has seen what happens when you don’t.

Techstars Detroit is the natural evolution of all the work we’ve done previously, from Techstars Startup Weekends, to Techstars Startup Weeks, to a mobility accelerator, and now a broader accelerator—this is the arc of a successfully maturing startup ecosystem. Startup ecosystems have natural biorhythms; they evolve. What Detroit needed four years ago is different from what it needs today. Every community has a vertical or an industry that they excel in, but to move beyond that is a sign of maturation. Detroit can now support a wider version of entrepreneurship.

Chris Heivly, Techstars Entrepreneur in Residence and serial entrepreneur (MapQuest cofounder), is obsessed with the hows and whys of entrepreneurial ecosystem development. “Startup ecosystem development is all based on success through a thousand nudges,” Chris says. “Growing a startup ecosystem takes a long series of positive nudges—and Techstars Detroit is another really positive nudge.”

After four great years, we’re so glad to provide yet another nudge to the startup ecosystem of the Comeback City. Four years in, our engines are revving and we’re just getting started.

Today I’m excited to introduce the 11 companies part of Techstars Class 141 – the Techstars Mobility Accelerator Class of 2018. Every company part of the 2018 Class has a diverse founding team and the businesses span a wide range of mobility solutions.

100% Diverse Founding Teams

The 2018 class is our most diverse class of founders to date. Of the 11 startups, all 11 have diverse founding teams in regards to gender, ethnicity, or age. I’m incredibly excited to bring such a talented and diverse set of founders to Detroit for the summer.

The teams come from all around the world including Hong Kong, London, and across the United States. None of the teams come from Michigan.

With the diversity of teams comes the diversity of ideas. I define mobility as the movement of people and goods, spanning industries like automotive, transportation, supply chain & logistics, travel, healthcare, agriculture, and more.

The incoming teams have a range of business spanning autonomous single rotor drones to applying machine learning to pedestrian intent to a connected bicycle helmet now available in Apple stores.

To see these companies in action, join us on October 9 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where will host our fourth annual Techstars Mobility Demo Day. We’re expecting 1000+ attendees from around the world again this year. To join in on the fun (it’s free!), signup here to be notified when invites open up.

Three years ago, Techstars Mobility opened its office in downtown Detroit at Ford Field. We began our mission investing and mentoring entrepreneurs from around the world building the future of mobility.

Since then, we’ve invested in 33 startups from 6 different countries, who have raised $45 million valued at over $200 million. This summer, we’ll announce 11 additional startups that we’ve invested in that will be part of our fourth class. We’ve built a burgeoning mobility community, with 359 active mentors spanning 143 organizations. We’ve facilitated 7,500 meetings between founders, investors, corporations, and government organizations. We’ve hosted over 3000 attendees across our Mobility Demo Day, held annually in the fall. Two of our investments have been acquired as well–Bosch acquiring SPLT and Hagerty acquiring Classics&Exoctics.

Today, I’m excited to announce we’re moving to the 7th floor of WeWork Merchant’s Row, centrally located in downtown Detroit. We will continue to run our program out of this space, foster the growing mobility community, and plug into the increasing density of companies along the Woodward corridor. In partnership with WeWork and PlanetM, we’re designing a community and space where the future of mobility will converge. We’ve also teamed up with Oblong Industries to offer their visual collaboration technology, Mezzanine, in two of our new meeting rooms.

In addition to the new office, we’re also welcoming back several returning corporate partners and a few new ones for our fourth program. Techstars Mobility’s corporate partners work closely mentoring and supporting the founders going through our Mobility program.

Thank you to our 2018-2019 Techstars Mobility corporate partners:

Bosch

CSAA Insurance Group, an AAA insurer

Ford Motor Company

Honda

Nationwide

PlanetM

Siemens

USAA

Volvo Car Group

And if you’re looking for ways to get involved in Detroit, visit the startup community website #StartupDetroit and join the Slack room for the latest events, job listings and conversations happening in the city right now.

Corporate Partners Share Why They Partnered with Techstars Mobility

Here’s a quick look at why our outstanding mobility partners chose to work with Techstars Mobility to drive global innovation in the future of mobility.

“We look at innovation as a necessity to serve the evolving needs of AAA members and society at large. Partnering with Techstars Mobility offers us the ability to understand better how mobility is shifting and support the entrepreneurs that are driving disruptive change. Ultimately, our work is centered around being there for people when they need us, and there is no better way to serve them than to understand what they will need in the future.” – Sanjiv Parikh, managing partner of venture capital, CSAA Insurance Group

“Identifying meaningful ways to engage startup ecosystems across the world is a growing priority for Nationwide, as it ensures we’re keeping up with the pace of innovation within and beyond our business, directly translating to improved services for our members. We’ve been following Techstars Mobility closely, and it’s become clear that their graduating companies are leading the future of mobility. We want to be on the ground floor with these startups and couldn’t imagine a better place to be than in Detroit, with Techstars.” – Erik Ross, AVP, Nationwide’s venture capital arm

“At next47, we not only invest in external startups, but we also help Siemens, our parent company, identify and nurture the best entrepreneur teams from within, and help them carve out their ideas into successful startups. We chose Techstars to partner with in this endeavor for two reasons: 1. Their proven expertise in selecting the best early-stage teams, and 2. The access they provide to expert advice, mentorship and investors is invaluable to the long-term success of the start-up.” – Susana Quintana-Plaza, partner, next47

“PlanetM is excited to enter into a partnership with Techstars Mobility and include their accelerator companies in the PlanetM Landing Zone, located at WeWork Merchants Row in downtown Detroit. This new partnership will allow the PlanetM team and Techstar the opportunity to work collaboratively on programming, events, recruiting and matchmaking efforts as well as provide increased access to Techstars worldwide network. The presence of Techstars Mobility in the PlanetM Landing Zone will be a valuable resource for current Landing Zone member companies as we work together to strengthen Michigan’s growing global mobility startup community.” – Trevor Pawl, group VP, PlanetM

“At USAA, we’re always looking for ways to cultivate our culture of innovation while searching for ways to improve the financial well-being of our members whether through added services, products or advice. Keeping a pulse on the latest innovations coming from startups helps our teams evolve our offerings while enabling us to give back to the entrepreneurial community that helped found our business nearly 100 years ago. We chose to partner with Techstars Mobility because the companies coming out of each program are some of the most promising innovations we’ve seen on the market.” – Randy Termeer, senior vice president, USAA

“In addition to our internal product development efforts, Volvo Car Group is partnering with leading startup entrepreneurs both in the US and globally to co-create the future of mobility and transportation. Techstars is a leading platform to engage with innovative startups, and our partnership enhances our ability to guide, mentor and nurture companies that can add value to Volvo’s future offering. Some of the most important things for the survival of a young startup are establishing product-market fit and having the necessary funding runway to achieve it. By engaging with Volvo Cars, promising startups can gain access to our leading global R&D network to validate their product as well as our newly launched investment fund for strategic capital.” – Zaki Fasihuddin, CEO, Volvo Car Technology Fund AB

“We’re thrilled to welcome Techstars Mobility and the 2018 accelerator companies to the WeWork Detroit community. When we launched the Planet M Landing Zone last year, we envisioned WeWork to as the home of the next generation of mobility companies in Michigan. With the addition of Techstars, that vision is one step closer to becoming a reality.” – Megan Dodds, Midwest general manager, WeWork

“We’re delighted to support Techstars with next-gen workplace technology as they develop next-gen mobility talent working to transform the industry. “Mezzanine is our flagship technology for meeting spaces, and executives from NIO automotive to NASA aeronautics are using it to move forward on projects that demand multiple streams of data and visual information from multiple stakeholders in multiple locations.” – Mike Brown, chief revenue officer, Oblong Industries

Today isInternational Women’s Day. A celebration of the amazing women in our lives that make the world a better place (shout tomy wifeand my 18- month-old daughter). Today is also the recognition of the struggles and biases women face that create pain and suffering. Today is a call to action to accelerate gender parity.

I want to ask for your help. I want to welcome more women into mobility, both as founders changing the future, and as mentors, supporting the growing and changing ecosystem around automotive mobility.

AsBrené Brownputs it, “Courage is contagious. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver.”

The automotive industry has a stigma of being a guy’s thing. Guys are into cars and women are not. Guys are more engineering focused and women are not.

We need more of the this. We need the courage to take a hard look at the gaps in diversity and work together to improve it.

Building a mobility innovation community welcoming women

The future of automotive and transportation is mobility. Mobility is the fusion of manufactured steel with software and services. It’s the automotive industry adding a layer of software and services to enable new ways to get around, like a car that drives itself or transportation on demand.

As the industry changes, so will the workforce and skills needed to survive and win in this new environment. And you know what, diversity of ideas and people will be a key component in this new era.

Today, women makeup half the workforce in the U.S., and only represent 25% of the workforce in the automotive/mobility industry. When you look at women in automotive executive positions, that number drops to 17%. Yet, just as automobile ownership declines, autonomous vehicles take over and shared mobility services grow, so will women become prominent in an industry once dominated by men.Source: Catalyst

At Techstars Mobility, we’re on a mission to connect the automotive industry to emerging startups around the world. We’ve built a network of over 143 organizations spanning OEMs, suppliers, service companies, venture capital funds, and more.

We have invested in 33 startups from 6 different countries. We have over 300+ mentors supporting entrepreneurs that go through our program.

When I analyzed our breakdown of women-led startups and female mentors, I almost fell out of my seat. While we make a conscious effort to be more inclusive, our numbers are still barely above the automotive industry average:

19% of our mentors are women

18% of our startups have women co-founders

So this blog post is my call for help to improve significantly this percentage.

Techstars Mobility is looking to engage with more women in the mobility and automotive industry. We are looking to invest in more female-led startups. We are looking for women to be involved as mentors. If you know of anyone or are interested yourself,please send them my way.

Investing in amazing women changing the future of transportation

Through Techstars Mobility, I’ve had the pleasure to invest and support some amazing women changing the future of transportation. I’d like to invest in even more. Here’s what they shared with ways to improve the gender gap in the automotive mobility industry.

Anya started SPLT which Bosch acquired

SPLT founder and CEO,Anya Babbitt, shares her thoughts about why she started her company and what we can do to make the industry more welcoming to women.

Why did you decide to start a company in the automotive mobility space?

It all started with a personal mobility challenge. Several years ago I was working in Los Angeles on a project and traveling from the hotel and the work site every day taking the hotel shuttle. One day it was completely booked, and I was stuck without a ride to a meeting halfway across town. Luckily two other guests were going in the same direction and we shared the ride in their car. That led to sharing the ride, splitting the cost, plus a networking opportunity. I returned home to New York where organic sharing of taxi rides became an emergent phenomenon as more and more people took to sharing transportation during peak hours. I soon realized there needed to be an app for this, where people working together or living near one another could share the ride and connect.

What do you think we can do to make the industry more welcoming to female founders and innovators shaping the future of transportation?

The future of transportation is happening now and there are already more women in the field than ever. The end goal is to improve the lives of all people through innovations in transportation. As women have attained higher academic achievement over the past few decades, the demand for more convenience, accessibility, and assistance will continue to grow. We still bear the greatest burden in child-rearing and taking care of our elderly parents, work that many female-led transportation startups are addressing in this space. Saving time, saving the environment, they all converge when convenience is as important as conservation. The culture and conversations are already changing.

Diane started SEEVA and raised $2.1M in venture funding

SEEVA founder and CEO,Diane Lansinger, shares her thoughts about why she started her company and what we can do to make the industry more welcoming to women.

Why did you decide to start a company in the automotive mobility space?

When I realized my kids would be getting their driver’s licenses at about the same L5 semi-trucks would be hitting the road, I was all in.

What do you think we can do to make the industry more welcoming to female founders and innovators shaping the future of transportation?

I’d love to start a monthly roundtable with female mobility founders and/or C-suite startup leaders where we meet, share experiences and peer-mentor each other. I know a simple format I’ve experienced in other “she-EO” startup groups that works well even with dispersed groups. Happy to share and can moderate for the first few months (having a moderator is good, in my experience, just to keep focus). This isn’t a social group format, though we do get to know each other better and build our networks in the process. Who’s in?Note: I’m happy to connect you to Diane if you’d like to be part of this group.

Lisa supports founders building the future of transportation

Techstars Mobility Director,Lisa Seymour, shares her thoughts about why she started her company and what we can do to make the industry more welcoming to women.

Why did you decide to start a company in the automotive mobility space?

I didn’t start a company in the mobility space, but I did spin up the Techstars Mobility program with Ted because I wanted to help entrepreneurs build their businesses in Detroit. With all of the automotive and mobility expertise, we have in Southeast Michigan starting a program for mobility entrepreneurs seemed like the perfect fit.

What do you think we can do to make the industry more welcoming to female founders and innovators shaping the future of transportation?

We have an amazing network of founders and mentors in the mobility program though most are men. That being said — be our allies! Help women in the industry strengthen their voice and be more visible. Diversity makes us all better.

Are you a founder that wants to grow your network, secure capital for your startup, and scale your business? Do you want to grow as a leader and be more successful? Subscribed toTed’s blogand apply for the2018 Techstars Mobility program(be sure to select Mobility 2018 as your first choice in the application).

Techstars Mobility has partnered with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) for the second year in a row to bring over 50 global startups to Detroit in January 2018 to showcase their innovative mobility technologies as part of AutoMobili-D, a dedicated startup expo. This partnership is part of Techstars Mobility’s ongoing mission to connect the automotive and startup worlds by breaking down silos and forming partnerships.

Due to the success of last year’s AutoMobili-D expo, and Detroit’s continuous transformation, we were able to increase the amount of startups in attendance.

Last year, we had startups travel to Detroit for this event from across North America, as well as Dubai, London and Portugal. This year we will have an even greater international presence, with startups coming from 11 different countries. Out of the 57 participating startups, 19 are Techstars alumni.

This year’s showcase will also represent a wider-range of technologies, including:

Autonomous

Connected Car

Electrification

Fleet Management

Hardware / Sensors

Logistics

Manufacturing

Mapping / Journey Planning / Multi-Modal

Personal Mobility / Last Mile Vehicles

Security

Services / On-demand / Ride Sharing

Smart City and Infrastructure

Applications for Techstars Mobility 2018 program will be opening January 8th. Startups can apply here.

I finished my thirdTechstars Mobility Acceleratorprogram this month. It was an incredible experience, and I’m grateful toLisa Seymour,my colleague and partner in running this program, for the terrific associates and volunteers that joined us this year, and of course, the incredible founders that came from all around the world to Detroit for 13 weeks.

Since June 2015, we’ve been super busy. We’ve invested in 33 startups from six different countries — only two came from Michigan. Of these startups, 21 have founders with diverse backgrounds. As a portfolio, they have gone on to raise $45M and are valued at $200M, with one exit (Hagerty acquired Classics&Exotics from our 2015 program). I expect these numbers to go up quite a bit as we head into 2018.

On Oct 18, 2017, our third program wrapped up with a multi-event demo day. Over the course of the day, we hosted over 1200+ individuals from 113+ different automotive OEMs, suppliers, transportation companies, and leading mobility venture capital funds. Our 2017 Techstars Mobility demo day was the largest single-day event focused on mobility startups in the world. This was also the third year we’ve had over 1000+ individuals at our demo day, continuing its recognition as the largest single-day startup event in Michigan.

Fathom(Grand Rapids, MI) — Watch their demo day pitch here
Fathom is modernizing and simplifying the recreational rental industry starting with its flagship product, the Fathom One, an underwater drone built for adventure.

Gridwise(Pittsburgh, PA) — Watch their demo day pitch here
Gridwise is a mobile platform for rideshare drivers which increases their earnings 39% by leveraging data analytics and community to help them better understand when and where to drive.

Forcing Serendipity by Connecting Amazing People Together

During the 2017 Techstars Mobility Accelerator program, over 2,500 meetings were scheduled between the 11 startups and hundreds of mentors representing OEMs, suppliers, transportation companies, and leading mobility venture capital funds.

I like to call this “forced serendipity” — when you pair up a bunch of amazingly smart people, the collisions of ideas and momentum of network lead to incredible results.

Ultimately that is the secret to why this program works so well. Through these encounters, founders received a lot of different viewpoints. Data gathered from these meetings is distilled down into wisdom that the founders use to grow their business, and the results always amaze me.

Thank you to all the great mentors that have supported the last three programs. And an extra special thank you to these 32 mentors as rated “most helpful” by the founders that have gone through Techstars Mobility.

AutoMobili-D is the perfect entry point for early-stage mobility startups to build up their networks with key influencers and decision-makers in the automotive mobility industry. The mobility startup expo at AutoMobili-D runs January 14-18, 2018 in downtown Detroit.

For the second year in a row, Techstars Mobility has partnered with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) to bring over 50 global startups to Detroit in January 2018 to showcase their innovative mobility technologies as part of AutoMobili-D, a dedicated mobility technology expo. This partnership is part of Techstars Mobility’s ongoing mission to connect the automotive mobility and startup worlds by breaking down silos and building partnerships.

Startup applications for the 2018 AutoMobili-D showcase are now open. If you’re a startup, apply here by Oct 31st to secure your spot and a discount of $499 (price goes up to $999 November 1st). Be part of NAIAS 2018 (aka the “Detroit Auto Show”), among the most prestigious automotive shows in the world and one of the largest media events in North America.

Improvements in 2018

The inaugural year for AutoMobili-D attracted 40,000 automotive and tech industry executives, designers, developers and analysts from 2,274 companies and 27 countries.

AutoMobili-D has expanded to 150,000 sq. ft. in 2018 to accommodate increased demand. This year startups can be found in the center of AutoMobili-D.

AutoMobili-D Mobility Advisory Board

Also new in 2018 is the formation of the Mobility Advisory Board for AutoMobili-D. This advisory board will be helping to curate startups at AutoMobili-D, speaking on panels and giving talks, and lending support to continue to build the innovation bridge between Detroit and Silicon Valley.

Startup Success Stories from 2017

Last year, during the inaugural AutoMobili-D, 50 startups participated from all around the globe, including the U.S., Canada, Dubai, London, and Portugal. The technologies included artificial intelligence and machine learning, to autonomous and connected platforms, to infrastructure communications and security applications.

One of those startups was Acerta, which offers an artificial intelligence platform for machine analytics, which provides OEMs and Tier-1 manufacturers with automatic and real-time malfunction detection and failure prediction. At AutoMobili-D, founder Greta Cutulenco met ZF Group, one of the largest global Tier-1 manufactures. ZF Group soon became a key customer, which helped Acerta raise a $2M investment seed round.

Nearly every other startup at AutoMobili-D told us they also received great customer leads and biz dev opportunities. Here’s some of the feedback we received from the founders of startups:

“It was an amazing way for our company to not only get access to top players in the automotive industry but to actually talk with the top-level decision makers.” — Jordan Warzecha, CEO & Co-Founder, Backstitch

“Amazing opportunity to engage with leading automotive executives. We were amazed by the quality of the meetings.” — Stefanie Lemke, CEO & Co-Founder, GoKid

“The show was really valuable for us because of the relationships we were able to foster. The BizDevDay meetings alone made the trip worthwhile.” — Jon Harmer, COO & Co-Founder, LaaSer

“It was a cream of the crop event. You can network more in four days at AutoMobili-D than in four years through other channels.” — John Mohyi, CEO & Co-Founder, Mohyi Labs

“Automobili-D is a great place to get attention and build relationships with OEMs, tier 1 suppliers, investors & other autotech founders.” — James Bellefeuille, Vugo

“Without a doubt one of the most important events to be a part of.” — Evan Saunders, URB-E

“It was simply amazing. Being surrounded by other startups and tech companies in the Auto Mobility space gave us a thorough understanding of what the future of the auto industry will look like.” — Mohsen Mohsenpour, ShiftRide

More About AutoMobili-D

Now in its 30th year as an international event, the NAIAS is among the most prestigious automotive shows in the world, providing unparalleled access to the automotive products, technologies, people and ideas that matter most – up close and in one place. The event is hosted in downtown Detroit, the heart of the automotive industry.

The inaugural launch of AutoMobili-D in 2017 featured more than 180 brands, ranging from automakers to suppliers, to tech startups as well as universities and government organizations.

From John Krafcik debuting the fully autonomous Chrysler Pacifica, to Carlos Ghosn providing insights into Nissan’s plans for a connected future, to Julia Steyn on Maven’s outlook on urban mobility as a service, these great industry leaders and many others took the stage and delivered more than 40 hours of mobility-focused discussions and announcements.

This is a pivotal time for the automotive industry, as technology and mobility services are becoming integrated with manufactured steel. We’re witnessing the convergence of Detroit and Silicon Valley. Through the AutoMobili-D showcase, this will be the second-year an auto show has a dedicated startup expo showcasing the future of automotive mobility from downtown Detroit.

The Opportunity in Classic Cars

When most people think about “mobility startups” they think about self-driving cars, LIDAR sensors, and ridesharing services like Uber. The focus is on disruption and the inevitable decline of automotive vehicles in the future. Who needs to drive if the car can drive itself?

That last point is part of my thesis on the future of transportation and how the automotive shift to mobility is much more than self-driving cars. Startups like Classics&Exotics, now DriveShare by Hagerty, are part of this future where people still want to drive cars themselves.

In the future, your car could drive you to work. But on the weekends, you could drive a car that brings you joy, an experience powered by Hagerty’s DriveShare. And where would you drive that car? Highways are too regulated and could be off limits due to future government rules around self-driving vehicles. But north of downtown Detroit, you could drive your car on the M1 Concourse, a private garage, and track, for automotive enthusiasts. My guess is we’ll see a lot more of these pop up around the world in the coming decade, as we saw private horse farms and eventing areas.

New experiences will drive the future of automotive mobility. Trading boring commutes for productive time. Being able to drive cars that were once out of reach.

It’s wonderful to see Hagerty betting on this future experience.

How Techstars Mobility helped Peter, founder of Classics&Exotics

On April 22, 2015, at 2p ET, I called Peter Zawadzki to let him know that Classics&Exotics was accepted into the 2015 Techstars Mobility class. Going into the call, I had a gut feeling this was going to be a great opportunity. Peter was almost in tears—tears of joy, having applied in Jan 2015 and waiting four months for the final notice of acceptance. It was a surreal moment for us both and one I still remember vividly.

In 2015, Techstars Mobility had eight corporate partners, including Magna and Munich Re. During the 2015 Woodward Dream Cruise, Magna helped Peter with free space along Woodward to showcase a classic Ferrari and vintage Cobra.

A second partner, Munich Re, soon became a key contact, underwriting the insurance policy for Classics&Exotics to rent vehicles on their platform.

It’s amazing to see what Peter built with Classics&Exotics. I’m humbled that Techstars Mobility could play a role in helping him turn that idea into a great success story. Peter is #TechstarsforLife and is sharing his story and insight through #GiveFirst as a mentor for the 2017 Techstars Mobility Accelerator class.

Techstars Mobility Accelerator mentor Zaki Fasihuddin recently joined Volvo Cars as VP of Digital. Zaki has been an active corporate mentor in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Techstars Mobility Accelerator programs. In this post, I interview Zaki who shares some tips for ways corporations and startups can work together.

The entire transportation industry is going through a historic change. Automotive companies are shifting from bending metal to bending bits. Soon they will be offering software and services to complement manufactured metal.

Driving this massive transformation is the need for the large corporations to become more innovative and nimble like startups. These companies are looking to partner and work with emerging technology startups instead of being merely disrupted by them. Innovation teams are being formed at large corporations to build processes around structured engagement with innovative startups.

At the Techstars Mobility Accelerator program, we have 10 corporate innovation partners for 2017. You can read more about these new corporate partners in this post. These include Ford, Verizon, Honda, next47 (the independent investment arm of Siemens), Bosch, InMotion (powered by Jaguar Land Rover), AAA, Dana, Munich Re, and Michelin.

These corporations are not only learning from startups but are offering mentorship and support to help these startups thrive in the changing transportation industry.

As we kick off the third Techstars Mobility Accelerator program (and 109th class to go through Techstars, wow!), I’m excited to interview one of our mentors, Zaki Fasihuddin who has worked at innovation teams at both McDonald’s (a 2015 and 2016 Techstars Mobility corporate partner) and now Volvo.

Mentors are where the magic happens at Techstars, and we have an all star list of Mobility mentors. It’s even more amazing when mentors come back year after year to support the program. It’s equally impressive when those mentors change roles at large corporations but still find ways to be engaged and to get their company involved. At Techstars we have a saying “#Techstars4Life” and it’s powerful to see this in action.

Zaki first started as a Techstars Mobility mentor when he was running the McDonald’s Digital Hub in Silicon Valley. He mentored many mobility startups, helping to support internal connections, paid pilots, and relationships throughout the industry. He offered unique corporate insight because of his previous startup experience being a co-founder, early team member, and investor in several software companies

In June of 2017, Zaki gave me a call after transitioning to his new role at Volvo’s Mountain View office. “How can I #GiveFirst and support the 2017 class?” I smiled knowing that two of our incoming companies (SEEVA and EcoG part of our 2017 Techstars Mobility class) were already asking if we had any mentors from Volvo. That’s the power of the Techstars network!

Here are some tips from Zaki for both corporations and startups on ways to work together.

Why is it important for corporations to work with early stage startups?

Zaki: There are several reasons why corporations should consider working with early-stage startups that include:

Range of experimentation of new ideas: For startups, there is no such thing as “we don’t do that here…,” or, “…that conflicts with our current business model…” Startups tend to be trailblazers into new unproven market spaces and have the ability to experiment, fail fast and try again, often in rapid iterative cycles.

Speed: Startups can change direction on a dime. By partnering with startups, corporations can see signals or proof points faster on testing of hypotheses. Startups don’t need permission to act and are less constrained when they do by building scrappy solutions that are fit for purpose. At Techstars they call this #DoMoreFaster and two Techstars founders wrote a whole book on it.

Cost effective learning: Taking on additional internal overhead cost to research technology and new business models in-house is not always feasible. That’s why programs like Techstars—that offer a turnkey accelerator program with a methodology of proven success—are so attractive. They can be run with minimal cost that can show a huge boost in experimentation, research, and overall accelerated learning in co-creation partnerships.

Outside perspective: Fresh lenses can offer different approaches to problem-solving or frame opportunities differently. For example, a startup may “mash-up” technologies in a new way or apply a new business model that hasn’t been tried before. By their nature, startups are empowered to challenge industry norms by thinking differently.

Talent: Being involved in the building of a startup was one of the most challenging experiences of my career. Entrepreneurship is sometimes thought to be glamorous, but it is actually the opposite. It’s more like the movie Groundhog Day where every day is a grind for survival mixed in with some healthy paranoia while the main thing that powers you is an illogical belief. It is the ultimate trial by fire that tests your fortitude on so many levels. Now if one can learn how to properly apply those skills and passion inside a corporation, they can make a sizable impact. Startups can not only serve as a talent pipeline but can also help inculcate a culture of healthy paranoia so corporations don’t rest on their laurels

You’ve now seen many corporations engage with startups. What do you think is the single biggest lesson corporations can implement to work with startups successfully?

Zaki: Be consistent, dedicate resources and follow through. You need to have a dedicated team that is truly engaged and committed, who understands startups and has a path to go from idea to proof of concept to pilot and potentially even production.

This means investing the right amount of time with a startup and the founders and jointly sharpening the problem statement, the scope of engagement and the outcomes that you will be trying to solve for in the collaboration. Companies that have invested the time to do this come out with far better results. It all comes down to engagement and commitment.

What would be your top 1 or 2 tips for a startup to work with a corporation?

Zaki: Be focused and specific for what you are trying to achieve. Don’t view the project as a one and done. Agree on a project that is feasible to achieve and doesn’t have a lot of dependencies to deploy. Don’t be smitten by working with a name brand, instead have a clear understanding of why you are seeking a particular partner and what tangible value it will create for your company.

For startups, time is not on your side. It is easy to go off on a tangent by making some bad choices which can cost your company more in the long run. We all need to learn to do more faster together.

What excites you about the Mobility space and in particular the opportunity for Detroit?

Zaki: Coming from a different industry, the exponential pace of change and innovation in the Mobility space is mind boggling. Places like Dubai, Singapore, and China are creating favorable conditions by fast tracking new regulations and offering seed investment to attract global mobility startups.

Detroit has more to offer entrepreneurs when it comes to world class research-based educational institutions, a massive transportation-focused private sector with knowledge workers, an affordable cost of living and a public sector intent on re-inventing the city. Detroit has an opportunity to become the global destination of choice for mobility entrepreneurs.

Today we’re excited to introduce the 11 companies that will be a part of the Techstars Mobility Accelerator Class of 2017. We’re also announcing a new partnership with Rocket Fiber to bring gigabit internet to our office and house for founders. In addition, we’re welcoming three new team members to support the 2017 class.

The Most International Mobility Class Yet

The incoming class of 11 startups are coming from around the world, including Dubai, Tel Aviv, Munich, Vancouver and across the United States. They are building technologies and innovative business models that impact how people and goods move across all modes of transportation.

These 11 startups are joining a thriving startup ecosystem in Detroit. According to the new report by the Michigan Venture Capital Association, there has been a 50 percent increase in Detroit-based startups in the last three years. In the last year alone, $62M was raised by startups in Detroit, 28 percent of all statewide venture capital investment.

In addition, we have partnered with Detroit-based gigabit internet service provider, Rocket Fiber to provide our startups with internet that is up to 1000x faster than standard cable companies. This partnership will provide internet not only at our Detroit-based office but also at the Techstars Mobility Foundry House where startups’ founders can live for free during the duration of our program.

New Team Members Relocating to Detroit

We’re also excited this year to welcome three new team members to support the 2017 class.

Ian Sefferman Entrepreneur-in-Residence: Ian founded MobileDevHQ, a Techstars Seattle 2012 graduate. TUNE acquired his company in 2014, where he is currently SVP of Customer Experience. He recently relocated from Seattle to Detroit. In addition to his work with TUNE, Ian is involved with Techstars Seattle and Mobility as a mentor, applicant screener, investor, and alumni.

Andrew Mager Developer-in-Residence: Mager relocated to Detroit from San Francisco with his wife and dog a few months ago. He’s been mentoring for Techstars since 2013 and has been part of various accelerators: Nike+, R/GA, Sprint, and Mobility. He’ll be working out of the office a few days a week acting as a technical mentor for the teams this summer.

Jessica Krcmarik Designer in Residence: Jessica is an illustrator, designer, and Detroit resident. She was a Techstars Mobility Associate in 2015 and currently freelances for various startups & small publications. She will be assisting the teams with design and branding needs.

The 2017 Class of Techstars Mobility

The 2017 class is our most diverse and international class yet, with companies coming from around the world including Dubai, Tel Aviv, Munich, Vancouver and across the United States.

These startups are building solutions in the autonomous, connected, electric and shared vehicle mobility spaces. They are using a variety of technologies including analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics and manufacturing.